The web this week

Loving the internet:  Regular users are spending up to 90 more minutes online than four years ago, says Nielsen/NetRatings NetWatch. And it clearly takes a while to find a date online, with three sites - nzdating.com, findsomeone.co.nz and personalstuff.co.nz - in the top 10 for visit length. It's no coincidence, says analyst Jennifer Reddington, since singles are 15 per cent more likely to be regular net users.

Biking a lonely sport? Speaking of single people, it's interesting that mountain-biking site vorb.org.nz comes in at number four. Reddington says single people are 32 per cent more likely to have mountain biked in the past 12 months. Is that why sales of tandem mountain bikes never really took off?

Smart equals money: All the sites in this week's ranking are online communities, which means users need a login to take part in the full range of offerings. Reddington suggests this means users are becoming more sophisticated, which in turn is driving website innovation. In a recent analysis of eBay, it was found that as buyers, sellers and eBay itself became smarter about expanding and improving user experience, the volume and value of listed goods increased. So smarter users means more money for everyone.